Dry-tooling explained

Dry-tooling (or drytooling) is a form of mixed climbing that is performed on bare, ice-free, and snow-free, routes. As with mixed climbing, the climber uses ice axes and crampons to ascend the route, but uses only rock climbing equipment for protection; many modern dry-tooling routes are now fully bolted like sport climbing routes. Indoor ice climbing competitions are held on non-ice surfaces and are effectively dry-tooling events.

Dry-tooling developed from the mid-1990s as the standards of mixed climbing rose dramatically, and the most difficult part of the new extreme M-graded mixed routes was often the dry-tooling component (i.e. a roof or severe overhang). Some of the most extreme mixed climbing routes now quote a D-grade alongside the M-grade to signify whether there was any ice encountered (i.e. Iron Man in Switzerland which is M14+/D14+).

Dry-tooling uses the identical equipment and techniques of mixed climbing and has followed its increased regulation of equipment to counter criticisms that it is a form of aid climbing. Dry-tooling has faced additional criticisms due to the damage it can do to natural rock surfaces, and dry-tooling climbing areas are usually separate from rock climbing areas. Dry tooling has been advocated as a more accessible sport for women.

Description

Dry-tooling is mixed climbing performed on surfaces that have no ice or snow. The equipment is identical to mixed climbing, except that none of the ice climbing tools used by mixed climbers for protection are employed (e.g. ice screws). Dry-tooling climbers use the same fruit boots, monopoint crampons, heel spurs, and advanced leashless ice axes, which mixed climbers use. All of the unique techniques used in mixed climbing including stein pulls, torque pulls, undercling pulls, and figure-four moves are also used in dry-tooling.^[1]

While dry-tooling techniques are used in alpine climbing, the modern sport of dry-tooling is associated with bolted protection, in the same manner as sport climbing rock routes.^[1] Like sport climbing, dry-tooling is also closely associated with competition ice climbing.^[1] As with mixed climbing, the equipment of dry-tooling has become more closely governed to counter criticisms of the sport being akin to aid climbing.^[1] Dry-tooling in competition ice climbing no longer allows ice axe leashes and controls the dimensions of tools and the use of heel spurs.^[1]

Types of routes

Dry-tooling climbers avoid rock climbing venues as the action of the ice axe can damage fragile holds (i.e. dry-tooling climbers do not attempt to repeat graded rock climbing routes).^[1] Popular dry-tooling bolted venues are therefore often explicitly unsuitable for rock climbing due to weak rock (e.g. choss rock as found in the Dolomites or in the Fang Amphitheater in Vail, Colorado), and/or are perpetually in damp and wet condition.^[1]

Leading dry-tooling climbers focus on roofs to push standards (and under DTS conditions), and thus many of the most important venues are caves (or quasi-caves), such as A Line Above the Sky (D15 DTS) and Parallel World (D16 DTS) in the Tomorrow's World Cave in Marmolada, Bichette Light (D14 DTS) in the L'Usine Cave in Grenoble, or the Storm Giant (D16) in a remote cave in Fernie, British Columbia.^[1] or the Aletheia (D16) and Téleios (D16+) in the Tana del drago in Ponte nelle Alpi.

History

Dry-tooling has always been used by ice climbers and mixed climbers to train in the summer months of the off-season, and as part of mixed climbing, dry-tooling techniques have been used in alpine climbing for decades.^[2] In 1994, when Jeff Lowe dry-tooled a bare rock roof to get to the impressive hanging icicle of Octopussy in Vail, Colorado, and graded his ascent at WI6 M8, the sport of mixed climbing, but also dry-tooling was born.^{[3] [4]}

While the early surge from 1994 to 2003 was focused on developing mixed climbing routes with sections of both rock and ice, as M-graded milestones rose, the technical challenges became more concentrated on the dry-tooling part of the routes, and particularly on breaching ever-larger roofs. At the same time, the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup events were being held on non-iced surfaces that were essentially dry-tooling routes, and UIAA male and female competitors also began to push dry-tooling standards in the outside environment.

In 2010, French climbers, including, introduced Dry Tooling Style (DTS), restricting equipment use and prohibiting figure-four and figure-nine moves (also called a "yaniro").^[5] Competitions under DTS rules have been held, and several leading dry-tooling climbers have set new grade milestones in DTS fashion.

In 2012, Swiss climber made the first ascent of Iron Man in completely dry conditions and graded it D14+, using a "D" prefix to denote "dry conditions"; he then repeated the route later in iced conditions and added a grade of M14+, for "mixed conditions". In 2016, when the late British climber Tom Ballard freed the hardest dry-tooling climb in history, A Line Above the Sky, he graded it D15 DTS (i.e. done in the DTS style) and avoided the "M" prefix.

Techniques

As well as using standard techniques of ice climbing (e.g. front pointing) and of rock climbing (e.g. crack climbing, but with ice axes), dry-tooling climbers have developed a range of techniques that are largely unique to their sport (and the derived sport of mixed-tooling). These include:^[6]

• Stein pull. The climber inverts their ice axe and wedges the blade upwards into cracks in the rock, gaining an upward momentum by then pulling down on the handle (with the blade wedged). Stein pulls are used frequently on overhanging sections, and for creating a resting position.^{[6] [7]}
• Undercling pull. The climber has gone above the stein pull hold, and can either convert their stein pull into a mantel-type move (i.e. pushing down on the handle), or can re-set the axe blade into an undercling pull where they pull themselves into the rock; an advanced technique that absorbs a lot of energy.^[6]
• Torque pull. The climber wedges the blade of their ice axe into a crack and then pulls sideways, thus creating "torque" between the axe and the wedged blade, enabling the climber to move upwards. Torque pulls are used frequently to ascent vertical cracks.^[6]
• Figure-four. The climber creates a lock-off with their arm so that the ice axe is wedged into the rock, and the arm holding the axe is locked at an angle; they then use this arm like a hold by hooking their "opposite" leg over the arm and pushing their leg down to reach upward.^[6] A figure-nine uses the "non-opposite" leg.^[6]

In addition, dry-tooling climbers try to keep their elbows near their sides (i.e. to avoid draining energy in torque and stein pulls),^[6] and are very careful in extracting wedged blades (i.e. which can ricochet back into the climber's face), and of gently balancing the front points of their crampons on thin holds.^[6]

Evolution of grade milestones

See also: List of grade milestones in rock climbing.

While many mixed climbing M-graded routes could be more accurately described as combinations of D-graded dry-tooling routes and WI-graded ice climbing routes, it was not until Robert Jasper's ascent of Iron Man in 2012, that D-grades become more common for routes that had no ice whatsoever.^[8]

• 2009. Bichette Light D14 DTS L'Usine Cave, Grenoble, France. First ascent was in 2009 by and is considered the first D14 in dry-tool history; Mercier did it in DTS fashion with a D14+/D15 grade, now softened to D14.^[9]
• 2012. Iron Man D14+ Eptingen, Switzerland. First ascent was in 2012 by and is considered one of the first D14+s in dry-tool climbing history; Japer climbed it in completely dry conditions, grading it D14+, although he did it later again in iced conditions, grading it M14+ (the first M14+ in history).^{[10] [11]}
• 2016. A Line Above the Sky D15 DTS Tomorrow's World Cave, Dolomites, Italy. First ascent was in 2016 by Tom Ballard and is considered the first D15 in dry-tool climbing history; Ballard also climbed it in DTS fashion.^{[12] [13]} Grade was confirmed by Gaetan Raymond, Dariusz Sokołowski and Jeff Mercier.
• 2017. Storm Giant D16 Fernie, British Columbia, Canada. First ascent was in 2017 by Gordon McArthur and is considered the first D16 in dry-tool climbing history; McArthur did not climb it in DTS fashion.^{[14] [15] [16]}
• 2019. Parallel World D16 DTS Tomorrow's World Cave, Dolomites, Italy. First ascent was in 2019 by Darek Sokołowski and is the first D16 in dry-tool climbing history that was done in DTS fashion.^{[17] [18]} Then the route has been downgraded to D15+ by Kwon YoungHye and Matteo Pillon.^[19] The first and so far only repeat in DTS was done in 2024 by Victor Varoshkin.
• 2021. Aletheia D16 Tana del Drago ("Dragon's Den"), Ponte nelle Alpi, Italy. First ascent was in 2021 by Matteo Pilon, and repeated by Kevin Lindlau in 2024.^{[20] [21]}
• 2024. Téleios D16+ Tana del Drago, Ponte nelle Alpi, Italy. First ascent was in 2021 by Matteo Pilon, the route has not yet been repeated.

Female grade milestones

Most leading female dry-tooling climbers are competition ice climbers from the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup tour, however, despite their smaller grouping, on several occasions, female dry-tooling climbers have set grade milestones that matched the highest male grades at the time; dry-tooling has been advocated as an accessible sport for women:

• 2007. Law and Order D13 Diebsöfen, Austria. First female ascent was in 2007 by Ines Papert and is considered the first D13 by a female in dry-tooling history; also graded M13 but is largely a dry route.^{[22] [23]}
• 2013. Iron Man D14+ Eptingen, Switzerland. First female ascent was in 2013 by and is considered the first D14 by a female in dry-tooling history; at the time of Hrozová's ascent Iorn Man was considered the hardest route in the world.^{[24] [25]}
• 2017. A Line Above the Sky D15 Tomorrow's World Cave, Dolomites, Italy. First female ascent was in 2017 by and is considered the first D15 by a female in dry-tool history; at the time the highest male grade was also D15.^{[26] [27] [28]}

See also

• Glossary of climbing terms
• Alpine climbing
• Ice climbing
• Mixed climbing

References

Further reading

• Book: Lowe, Jeff. Ice World: Techniques and Experiences of Modern Ice Climbing . 1996. Mountaineers Books . 1st . 978-0898864465 . Jeff Lowe.
• Book: Gadd, Will . Ice & Mixed Climbing: Modern Technique . 2003 . Mountaineers Books . 1st . 978-0898867695 . Will Gadd.
• Book: Gadd, Will . Ice & Mixed Climbing: Improve Technique, Safety, and Performance . 2021 . Mountaineers Books . 2nd . 978-1680511260 . Will Gadd.
• Book: How to Ice Climb . 2021. Falcon Guides . 2nd . 978-0762782772 . Tim . Banfield . Sean . Isaac.

External links

• VIDEO: Generation Dry, discovering the world of Dry Tooling, PlanetMountain (2019)
• VIDEO: Gordon McArthur vs Storm Giant, world's first proposed D16 dry tooling climb, PlanetMountain (2017)

Notes and References

1. Web site: . Opinion: Why Is Dry Tooling Getting So Popular? It's Awesome . Dave . Gladish . 21 February 2023 . 2 May 2023.
2. Web site: Gripped Magazine . Five Drytooling Tips to Climb Stronger in Shoulder Season . 5 October 2021 . 2 May 2023 .
3. Web site: . TNB: Jeff Lowe Invented the Sport . Pete . Takeda . 14 January 2014 . 30 April 2023.
4. Web site: . Jeff Lowe, Ice And Mixed Climbing Pioneer . Owen . Clarke . 25 February 2022 . 30 April 2023.
5. Web site: PlanetMountain . Jeff Merçier climbs first Italian D14 at Bus Quai . 7 January 2015 . 2 May 2023 . Matteo . Rivadossi . It's important to underline that once again Merçier climbed without making any Figure of Four moves, opting instead for the more physical and natural DTS (Dry Tooling Style) climbing style he believes is more ethical and which he promotes internationally..
6. Web site: . Why (and How) You Should Learn to Mixed Climb . Corey . Buhay . 8 February 2017 . 30 April 2023.
7. Web site: Climbing . Mixed Climbing Skills: The Stein Pull . 2 February 2004 . 30 April 2023 . Sean . Issac .
8. Web site: PlanetMountain . Generation Dry, discovering the world of Dry Tooling . 4 January 2019 . 2 May 2023.
9. Web site: . Will Gadd climbs the hardest of his life with Instagram at The Temple . 8 January 2016 . 2 May 2023.
10. Web site: UKClimbing . 22 February 2012 . Jack . Geldard . 1 May 2023 . Robert Jasper on Iron Man (M14+).
11. Web site: . Around the world of extreme drytooling by Young-Hye Kwon . 12 March 2015 . 1 May 2023 . The flight dropped him off directly in Switzerland, where he wasted no time heading to the Eptingen area to see with his own eyes what is considered to be the toughest route in world mixed sports, Ironman D/M14+, opened by Robert Jasper, in 2012..
12. Web site: PlanetMountain . Tom Ballard claims world's first D15 dry tooling climb in the Dolomites. 5 February 2016 . 2 May 2023 .
13. Web site: . Tom Ballard Establishes World's Hardest Dry-Tooling Route . February 2016 . 2 May 2023.
14. Web site: PlanetMountain . Gordon McArthur vs. Storm Giant, world's first proposed D16 dry tooling climb. 9 December 2017 . 2 May 2023 .
15. Web site: . Storm Giant – The World's Hardest Drytooling Route . December 2017 . 2 May 2023 . Krystan . Kosteki.
16. Web site: The Outdoor Journal . World's Hardest Dry-Tooling Route Established in Canada. 22 August 2017 . 2 May 2023 . Michael . Levy .
17. Web site: PlanetMountain . Dariusz Sokołowski discovers his Parallel World, D16 dry tooling in the Dolomites. 8 January 2019 . 2 May 2023 .
18. Web site: . Darek Sokołowski Establishes "Parallel World" (D16), Possibly World's Hardest Dry-Tooling Route . Krystan . Kosteki . 8 January 2019 . 2 May 2023.
19. Web site: Matteo Pilon ripete Parallel World - Up-Climbing . 2024-03-11 . www.up-climbing.com.
20. Web site: Walsh . Anthony . 2024-01-30 . American Climbs the World's Hardest Dry Tooling Route . 2024-03-11 . Climbing . en-US.
21. Web site: 2024-02-01 . American Climber Repeats D16 on Huge Roof . 2024-03-11 . Gripped Magazine . en-US.
22. Web site: PlanetMountain . Ines Papert imposes Law and Order M13 . 22 February 2007 . 3 May 2023.
23. Web site: . First woman to send M13 . Erik . Lambert . 17 March 2007 . 3 May 2023.
24. Web site: UKClimbing . Jack . Geldhard . 19 February 2013 . Female Ascent of M14 Mixed Route for Lucie Hrozova .
25. Web site: PlanetMountain . Lucie Hrozová becomes first woman to climb M14 with Ironman . 10 February 2013 . 3 May 2023.
26. Web site: PlanetMountain . Angelika Rainer first female D15 with A Line Above the Sky . 12 November 2017 . 3 May 2023.
27. Web site: . INTERVIEW: Angelika Rainer, the first woman to drytool D15 . Sarah . Sterling . 4 December 2017 . 3 May 2023.
28. Web site: Gripped Magazine . Angelika Rainer's Historic D15 Climb in Italy . 23 November 2017 . 3 May 2023.